WAUKEGAN — Thanks to State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan), Illinois has a new law that will remove the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.

“Often people are well into adulthood before they are psychologically capable of coming forward about abuse inflicted on them as children,” said Link. “By then, the timetable may have run out, making it impossible to seek justice from abusers.”

Senate Bill 1399 removes the statute of limitations for legal actions based on childhood sexual abuse. Under current law, the statute of limitations to report childhood sexual abuse is 20 years from the date the victim recalls the abuse. The new law removes the statute of limitations altogether, allowing a person to bring an action based on childhood sexual abuse at any time.

Victims of childhood sex abuse can suffer a wide variety of negative effects, lasting well into adulthood. It is quite common for young victims to block out memory of the abuse as a coping mechanism; however, the memory of the event can be triggered later in life.

Area residents have considered Lakeside Tower in Waukegan a blight on the community for years. Those people took the opportunity yesterday to ask the Illinois Senate Legislative Petition Committee to encourage housing officials to investigate and take action.

Eleven witnesses, including neighbors, city officials and the Lakeside Tower property manager, provided testimony during a hearing at Waukegan City Hall. Senator Terry Link represents Waukegan and sponsored the petition on behalf of his constituents calling for a full investigation by Housing and Urban Development. Lakeside Tower is a concern because of unsafe and deteriorating conditions of the property and some indications of increased crime activity in the area.

Witnesses for the city suggested conditions are improving since they suspended the owner’s business license, while neighbors testified they have not seen improvements.

The issue came to the attention of the Illinois Senate as a petition from concerned citizens. Senator Link responded by sponsoring a legislative measure and bringing it to the committee. Link pledged to the committee and the petitioners a report on Tuesday’s hearing will be posted online and forwarded to HUD.

The Illinois Senate’s Legislative Petition committee met Tuesday in Waukegan to discuss the problem building known as Lakeside Tower. The petition, which was brought forth by State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan), calls for a full investigation by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) into conditions at the property and related crime in and around Lakeside Tower.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has participated in the petition drive and allowed us to bring this issue before the Senate committee,” said Senator Terry Link. “Over the last decade, the management of the facility has allowed Lakeside Tower to deteriorate and unfortunately it has become a hotbed of crime in our community.”

Senator Link went on to say that aside from the crime that has occurred in and around the tower, the building itself needs to be completely refurbished or torn down. The health and safety of those living at Lakeside Tower should also be a concern to HUD.

Testimony at Tuesday’s hearing came from residents and city officials. Residents spoke to an existing problem that has not improved. City officials provided historical background and discussed recent efforts to work with the property manager to clean up the building.

“I will be posting the hearing on my website for those who couldn’t attend, as well as forwarding this information to HUD,” said Link. “I will continue to work to ensure that our community has its voice heard on this issue.”

SPRINGFIELD – Legislation sponsored by State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan) has been signed into law that will allow 17-year-olds, who will turn 18 in the year of the general election, to register and vote in the primary election.

“My own birthday was two days after a primary, and I was disappointed I could not vote for the candidate I supported,” said Link. “I believe this gives 17-year-olds the opportunity to vote in the primary and possibly result in more voter participation.”

The U.S. Constitution says that if a state has a compelling interest in setting the voting age, the state policymakers can lower the age if it is determined to be in the state’s best interest.